Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

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Incorporated: 1961
NAIC: 551111 Offices of Bank Holding Companies; 522110 Commercial Banking; 522210 Credit Card Issuing; 522292 Real Estate Credit; 523110 Investment Banking and Securities Dealing; 523120 Securities Brokerage; 523130 Commodity Contracts Dealing; 523920 Portfolio Management; 523930 Investment Advice; 523991 Trust, Fiduciary, and Custody Activities; 525910 Open-End Investment Funds

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) is Canada's third largest bank, trailing only Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia. Based in Toronto, CIBC functions through three main operating units: CIBC Retail Markets, CIBC Wealth Management, and CIBC World Markets. CIBC Retail Markets serves more than nine million individual customers and nearly 470,000 small business customers in Canada through a network of about 1,100 branches and more than 4,400 automatic bank machines (ABMs), as well as four telephone banking centers and an Internet banking channel. The principal financial services offered by this unit include personal banking, small business banking, credit cards, and mortgages. CIBC Wealth Management maintains a network of 2,500 investment advisors responsible for C$193 billion in client assets under administration. The unit's services include investment advice, full-service and online discount brokerages, private banking, and trust services, and its three families of mutual funds--Renaissance, Talvest, and CIBC--make the bank the number four mutual fund provider in Canada, managing more than C$36 billion in assets. CIBC World Markets is a major investment bank operating throughout Canada and the United States, with a more modest presence in the United Kingdom and Asia. CIBC was formed through a 1961 merger between the Imperial Bank of Canada, which was founded in 1875, and the Canadian Bank of Commerce, which traces its origins back to 1867.

The older of CIBC's two predecessors, the Canadian Bank of Commerce, was founded in 1867, the same year as Canada's confederation. While Canadian statesmen discussed the advantages of uniting the British North American Colonies under one parliament, a prominent Toronto businessman, William McMaster, was busy acquiring a bank charter from a group of financiers who had been unable to raise the necessary capital to put it to use. They had been granted a charter for an institution to be called the Bank of Canada in 1858, but McMaster adopted the name Canadian Bank of Commerce, opening the new bank on May 15, 1867. Under his leadership, the bank grew at a tremendous rate. The bank's paid-up capital swelled from C$400,000 to C$6 million in its first seven years, and it soon had offices in New York and Montreal as well as throughout Ontario. Canada was in the midst of an industrial revolution at this time, and the Bank of Commerce was instrumental in financing a number of large capital projects. For its first 20 years, the bank's prosperity fluctuated with economic conditions, but in general it grew and was profitable.

In May 1893 the bank joined the Canadian push westward by establishing a branch in Winnipeg. In 1898 branches were established in Dawson City, Yukon Territory; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Skagway, Alaska. In 1901 the bank acquired the Bank of British Columbia, strengthening its position on the Pacific Coast. During the next ten years the Canadian Bank of Commerce acquired several other financial institutions, including Halifax Banking Company (1903), Merchants Bank of Prince Edward Island (1906), and Eastern Townships Bank (1912); by the start of World War I, it had 379 branches.

During the 1920s the bank nearly doubled its branch network by acquiring the Bank of Hamilton and later the Standard Bank of Canada. The general prosperity of the 1920s was reflected in the bank's growth. At the time of the stock market crash in 1929, the Canadian Bank of Commerce's assets were C$801 million. The Depression that followed, however, took a heavy toll on the bank, and its assets did not return to their pre-Depression high until 1940.

World War II finally brought economic recovery to Canada. The Canadian Bank of Commerce was active in the war effort, leading victory loan drives among other things. After the war, the bank grew steadily. By 1956, assets had reached C$2.5 billion, and by 1960, they had passed C$3 billion. Despite this success, however, the bank felt pressured by increasing competition and in 1961 agreed to a merger with the Imperial Bank of Canada.

The Imperial Bank of Canada was established in Toronto in 1875. Its first president, Henry Stark Howland, had been the vice-president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce. The bank's first office actually had no vault--overnight deposits were stored at another bank--yet in its first year of operation, the Imperial Bank made a profit of C$103,637. Reluctant to open too many branches too soon, the Imperial Bank's growth was somewhat slower than that of the Bank of Commerce during the same period. By 1880, however, the Imperial Bank had frontier fever. That year it opened a branch in Winnipeg, and the next year it expanded to Brandon and Calgary. By 1900, the Imperial Bank had 32 branches spread across the continent. Between the turn of the century and World War I, Canada began to tap its mineral resources with amazing speed. The Imperial Bank of Canada earned the nickname the "Mining Bank" because of its ties to that industry.

After World War I, the bank opened about 50 branches within just a few years, but not all of them survived the volatile economic conditions that followed the war. In the 1920s, deposits reached record levels, but the stock market crash in 1929 caused severe problems for the bank. Many of its loans went bad, and a number of branches were closed. The bank struggled to recuperate during the late 1930s and by the end of the decade it was making headway once again.

During World War II costs of operation rose faster than earnings, leading to lower dividends during the war years. About one-third of the Imperial Bank's 1,800 employees enlisted in the various services, and 53 died.

After the war, Canada entered a period of widespread prosperity and the Imperial Bank grew rapidly. In 1956, it acquired Barclays Bank (Canada) and increased assets by nearly $40 million; by 1961, the Imperial Bank had assets of more than $1 billion and 343 branches.

The amalgamation of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and the Imperial Bank of Canada in 1961 created the largest bank in Canada at the time, with total assets of C$4.6 billion. The new Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce had at its helm L.S. Mackersy, of the Imperial Bank, as chairman and N.J. McKinnon, of the Bank of Commerce, as president and CEO. Altogether the new bank accounted for about one-quarter of the assets of all Canadian banks combined.

In 1962 McKinnon became chairman of CIBC's board of directors and steered the bank's course from that position until 1972. The 1960s were a prosperous time for Canada, and the nation's economy grew strongly. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's net earnings increased substantially each year throughout the decade. The bank also strengthened its foreign operations. At the end of the decade, Canada relaxed some of its restrictions on the banking industry. Notably, interest rates on loans were no longer limited to 6 percent. In this liberalized banking climate, Canadian banks did very well. In 1969 CIBC added 46 new branches while expanding its workforce by only 5 percent. That same year, CIBC also became the first Canadian bank to install 24-hour cash dispensers, which would evolve into ABMs. By 1970, annual profits had risen to C$43 million, more than twice what they had been at the time of amalgamation.

In the early 1970s, Canada began to invest heavily in energy development and agriculture, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce helped with the financing. Throughout the decade the bank had a close relationship with Canadian oil companies. That relationship would eventually cause the bank problems, but in the early 1970s, when oil prices were skyrocketing, investment in petroleum-related industries seemed like a gold mine.

In 1973 J.P. Wadsworth replaced McKinnon as chairman of CIBC, and remained in office until 1975. Late 1973 brought worldwide recession. Although Canadian domestic demand was adequate, overseas demand was low. This spelled trouble for Canada, whose economy was heavily dependent on exports. Nonetheless, CIBC continued to improve its earnings each year.

In 1976 Russell E. Harrison succeeded Wadsworth as chairman and CEO of CIBC. Harrison tended to run the bank in an autocratic manner. Top executives were not always given real power to make key decisions. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Canadian industry grew very quickly, and CIBC made large loans to many expanding firms. In 1980, however, this policy began to falter. Massey-Ferguson, the Canadian tractor manufacturer, was in danger of collapsing, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was Massey's biggest lender. The Canadian government worked with Massey's creditors to try to bail the company out by allowing it to raise new capital, but it did not work. Massey lost US$240 million in 1981, and US$413 million in 1982, leaving CIBC with a substantial amount of bad debt.

The Dome Petroleum Company was another of CIBC's large corporate debtors in deep trouble in the early 1980s. When oil prices dropped sharply in 1982, Dome lost more than C$100 million; CIBC had loaned Dome more than C$1 billion. The failing company was eventually bought by Amoco Canada, but again CIBC was left with a pile of bad debt. Between 1979 and 1984, CIBC had the lowest average return on assets of the five largest Canadian banks.

In May 1984 R. Donald Fullerton took over as CEO and set about restructuring the bank's operations. Fullerton eliminated branches to cut costs and service overlap and injected new blood into the bank's senior management. He also attacked the bank's bad debt, slowly eliminating bad loans from the bank's portfolio.

In 1985 a record number of farm failures caused mild concern among Canadian bankers. Canadian Imperial estimated that about 10 percent of its agricultural loans were in jeopardy. The problem was not nearly as severe in Canada as it was in the United States, however, where thousands of farmers defaulted on loans.

Under Fullerton's leadership, the bank bounced back from the troubles of the early 1980s to set a new earnings record in 1985. An aggressive new advertising campaign was launched in the United States as part of the bank's thrust internationally. In 1986 Fullerton announced that CIBC would split its operations into three separate units: the Individual Bank, the Corporate Bank, and the Investment Bank.

Each unit was to deal with a specific group of customers. The Individual Bank was CIBC's largest unit, employing three-quarters of the bank's workers to serve individuals and independent business people. The Corporate Bank was intended to provide standard financial services to a variety of Canadian and foreign companies. The Investment Bank was intended to take advantage of the upcoming liberalization of capital and other investment markets in Canada. It oversaw the operations of CIBC's brokerage firms and merchant banks overseas, and then domestically after June 1987, when Canada removed the regulations barring commercial banks from conducting investment banking activities. CIBC Securities Inc. was established in 1987 to offer stockbroker services. The bank also participated in a merchant bank, the Gordon Investment Corporation, with the Gordon Capital Corporation--each was an equal partner in the new bank. In Europe, CIBC operated CIBC Securities Europe Ltd. (formerly Grenfell and Colegrave Ltd., a U.K. firm acquired in 1986), and a stock brokerage for its overseas customers.

In 1987 Brazil announced that it would suspend interest payments on its foreign loans indefinitely. This action shocked the international banking community, which feared that other Third World countries would follow suit. In August 1987 the Canadian government issued a guideline that required banks to set aside a large sum to protect against possible losses on loans to Third World countries. CIBC set aside C$451 million, resulting in a net loss of C$63 million for 1987, though assets increased by almost C$8 billion.

Continuing its diversification in the newly deregulated environment, CIBC purchased a majority stake in the Wood Gundy Corporation, a leading Canadian investment dealer, for C$203.3 million in June 1988. The bank subsequently formed CIBC Wood Gundy, which offered asset management services for corporate and institutional clients. In 1989 CIBC gained an option to acquire Morgan Trust Company of Canada. When necessary revisions to the federal Bank Act went into effect in 1992, CIBC completed the acquisition, which formed the basis for CIBC Trust.

Worldwide deregulation, liberalization of financial markets, and information technology made banking more complex during the mid- and late 1980s. CIBC responded innovatively to a changing marketplace. The bank regained the lost ground of the early 1980s and made a greater effort to expand overseas than any other Canadian bank. But CIBC still held a significant portfolio of potential problem loans that it would have to correct if the bank was to thrive in the 1990s. To that end, CIBC management worked to improve its loan portfolio and to increase efficiency throughout its system during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It also shed employees in bloated divisions, while bolstering growing business segments.

Among the new business arenas targeted by CIBC were insurance and derivatives. CIBC's foray into insurance reflected ongoing bank-industry deregulation during the early and mid-1990s that was intended to give banks the opportunity to compete more effectively in evolving financial markets. CIBC was inundated with more than 50,000 inquiries when it began selling automobile insurance early in 1995. It subsequently began offering term life insurance. The company's efforts related to derivatives were the result of its intent to become a major player in the burgeoning derivatives market. CIBC hired a top-notch staff to compete in the risky investment niche, and was enjoying positive results in 1995. That same year, CIBC acquired Argosy Group, a junk bond dealer based in New York, and FirstLine Trust, a Toronto firm with a C$5 billion portfolio of residential mortgages.

Largely as a result of new business ventures, CIBC boosted its asset base to C$186.51 billion by 1995. Although sales remained relatively steady during the early 1990s, the bank posted a disappointing C$108 million loss in 1992, the same year that Al Flood took over as chairman and CEO. Net income surged to C$600 million in 1993, though, and then to a healthy C$890 million in 1994; one year later, CIBC saw its net income surpass the C$1 billion mark, becoming only the second Canadian bank--following Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)--to reach that level. Furthermore, CIBC's loan portfolio was much more secure by 1995 than it had been only a few years earlier. In addition, the organization continued to branch out globally, as evidenced by its 1994 listing on the Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad stock exchanges.

Mergers and acquisitions--some thwarted and some completed--dominated the news about Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in the late 1990s. Early in 1997 CIBC entered into talks with Imasco Limited to acquire Imasco's subsidiary CT Financial Services Inc., a Toronto-based financial services holding company operating under the name Canada Trust. Discussions ended, however, when the federal government told the parties that it would not approve the deal. (CT Financial was subsequently acquired in 2000 by the Toronto-Dominion Bank.)

In 1997 CIBC grabbed for a larger piece of the global securities markets by acquiring Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., a U.S. full-service securities firm, for US$525 million. Oppenheimer was subsequently merged with CIBC Wood Gundy to form CIBC World Markets, which was positioned as CIBC's international investment bank.

In January 1998 it appeared the banking megamerger wave that was roiling the U.S. banking and financial services sector was finally going to head north when RBC and Bank of Montreal, two of the top five Canadian banks, announced a merger that would create a new banking behemoth with total assets of nearly C$500 billion. Then, just three months later, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, the fifth largest Canadian bank, and CIBC followed suit by announcing a merger of their own to create what would have been the ninth largest bank in North America, with combined assets of C$466 billion. In December 1998, however, Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin rejected both the proposed merger between Toronto-Dominion and CIBC and that of RBC and Bank of Montreal. Ignoring the banks' insistence that they needed to merge in order to compete in the increasingly globalized financial services market, Martin concluded that from the standpoint of Canadians the mergers would create two banks with too much power and would severely reduce competition.

There was other bad news at CIBC during 1998 as well. The CIBC World Markets unit suffered a net loss of C$186 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 1998 as a result of pursuing the wrong markets during a period of international market turmoil. The poor performance at CIBC World Markets sent profits for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce tumbling by 32 percent for the full year. CIBC World Markets subsequently cut its staff by about 5 percent and pulled back from its global ambitions. It began refocusing primarily on the Canadian and U.S. markets, pursuing only some niches in the United Kingdom and the Asia Pacific region.

Given the troubles at CIBC World Markets it came as somewhat of a surprise when John S. Hunkin, the head of that unit, was named CIBC chairman and CEO, succeeding the retiring Flood. Soon after taking over in June 1999, Hunkin launched a reorganization aimed at flattening the bank's hierarchy and cutting costs. CIBC restructured into four operating units: electronic banking, retail and small-business banking, wealth management, and CIBC World Markets. Hunkin aimed to cut annual operating costs by C$500 million.

Searching for new ways to grow, CIBC in the late 1990s began partnering with major supermarket chains in both Canada and the United States to set up private-label electronic retail banks operating out of kiosks at the supermarkets' outlets. CIBC partnered with Loblaw Companies Limited to form President's Choice Financial in 1998. This was followed by the creation of Marketplace Bank in conjunction with the southern U.S. chain Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. and Safeway Select Bank, which began operating in the western United States at supermarkets run by Safeway Inc. In 2000 these ventures were amalgamated under a new subsidiary called Amicus.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce also sought to divest noncore operations during this period, aiming to focus more of its attention on its core banking business. In 1999 the bank exited from the life insurance and emergency travel insurance businesses. Then the following year, CIBC sold its home and auto insurance subsidiaries to Desjardins-Laurentian Financial Corp. for about C$330 million, leaving it virtually out of the insurance sector.

During 2001 and 2002, CIBC completed a series of acquisitions to build up its wealth management operations. The bank acquired the 34 percent of TAL Global Asset Management Inc. it did not already own and also bought Merrill Lynch Canada's private client and asset management businesses. As a result, CIBC created the largest full-service brokerage in Canada with more than 1,400 brokers. The bank also became Canada's fourth-largest provider of mutual funds. In another strategic move, CIBC in October 2002 merged its Caribbean banking operations with those of Barclays Bank PLC to create FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited. CIBC held an equity interest of about 43 percent in FirstCaribbean.

CIBC reacted almost immediately to the negative economic fallout from the events of September 11, 2001, by announcing that it would slash about 2,000 jobs from its workforce (a reduction of about 4 percent), increase its loan-loss provisions by nearly 60 percent, and sell off C$1 billion of unwanted loans and credit commitments. Fiscal 2002 turned even bleaker for CIBC as it was forced to set aside C$1.5 billion for bad corporate loans, including hundreds of millions it had loaned to two of the most famous victims of the now-burst stock market bubble: Enron Corporation and Global Crossing Ltd. At the same time, the ambitious Amicus venture continued to bleed red ink, losing C$871 million in both the United States and Canada between 2000 and 2002. Thus in October 2002 CIBC announced that it would shut down the U.S. operations of Amicus; the Canadian arm, which appeared to be on the road to profitability, would continue to operate. A restructuring charge of C$525 million--mostly related to the Amicus pullback--coupled with heavy loan-loss provisions, resulted in a fiscal 2002 fourth-quarter loss of C$100 million, CIBC's first quarterly loss since 1992.

One of the strategies for pursuing a turnaround adopted by CIBC management was to reallocate resources away from the riskier activities of CIBC World Markets and toward the more dependable operations of CIBC Retail Markets and CIBC Wealth Management. The goal was to have 70 percent of the bank's capital allocated to the latter two units, which would be a sizeable increase over the 50 percent figure of 2002. In January 2003 a major step was taken toward achieving this goal when CIBC sold its Oppenheimer private client and asset management businesses in the United States to New York-based Fahnestock Viner Holdings Inc. for C$354 million. CIBC succeeded in mounting a major comeback in fiscal 2003, reporting net income of C$2.06 billion.

While the outlook for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce certainly appeared to be brightening, the bank had to grapple with a number of legal issues related to some of the corporate scandals that grew out of the excesses of the 1990s. In December 2003 CIBC reached an agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to pay $80 million to settle civil charges that had been brought, alleging that the bank had helped Enron hide debt and inflate its profits by more than US$1 billion through intricate financial manipulations. CIBC also faced a number of civil suits that had been brought by Enron shareholders. The scandal involving illegal late-day trading in mutual funds ensnared CIBC in its widening web by early 2004 when it was reported that the bank was facing imminent regulatory action for making more than US$1 billion in financing available to investors who subsequently made illegal mutual fund trades.

Principal Subsidiaries

CIBC Asset Management Inc.; CIBC Mortgages Inc.; CIBC Trust Corporation; CIBC World Markets Inc.; Canadian Imperial Holdings Inc. (U.S.A.); CIBC World Markets Corp. (U.S.A.); TAL Global Asset Management Inc.; CIBC Holdings (Cayman) Limited; CIBC Offshore Banking Services Corporation (Barbados); CIBC Australia Limited; CIBC World Markets (Japan) Inc.; CIBC Asia Limited (Singapore); CIBC World Markets plc (U.K.).

Principal Operating Units

CIBC Retail Markets; CIBC Wealth Management; CIBC World Markets.

Principal Competitors

Royal Bank of Canada; Bank of Nova Scotia; The Toronto-Dominion Bank; Bank of Montreal.

Further Reading

Atlas, Riva D., "Canada Bank Is Said to Face Legal Action by Regulators," New York Times, January 28, 2004, p. C1.

Barnes, Angela, "Chairman of CIBC Places Emphasis on Teamwork," Globe and Mail, March 29, 1985, p. R7.

Blackwell, Richard. "CIBC Widens Insurance Effort," Financial Post, February 24, 1995, sec. 1, p. 11.

------, "New CIBC Boss Promises Shakeup," Globe and Mail, April 2, 1999, p. B1.

"Can Canada's No. 2 Bank Stop Its Slide?," Business Week, June 11, 1984, p. 57.

Craig, Susanne, "Angry Bankers Face an Uncertain Future," Globe and Mail, December 15, 1998, p. A1.

Dalglish, Brenda, "Banking on Change," Maclean's, November 2, 1992, pp. 46+.

Darroch, James L., Canadian Banks and Global Competitiveness, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994.

DeCloet, Derek, "Banker with Attitude," Canadian Business, June 11, 1999, pp. 33-34, 36, 38.

------, "King of the World," Canadian Business, July 10-July 24, 2000, pp. 56+.

Edinborough, Arnold, A History of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Volume IV: 1931-1973, Toronto: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 1995.

Gibbon, Ann, "CIBC, TAL Create Giant Funds Manager," Globe and Mail, January 20, 1994, p. B1.

Haliechuk, Rick, "CIBC Grooms Staff for Play in Derivatives," Toronto Star, January 20, 1995, p. E8.

Heinzl, Mark, "CIBC to Merge with Toronto Dominion," Wall Street Journal, April 20, 1998, p. A3.

Kalawsky, Keith, "CIBC Goes Wal-Mart," Financial Post, September 13, 2003, p. FP7.

------, "How Hunkin Put CIBC on Course," Financial Post, December 23, 2003, p. FP1.

Kraus, James R., "Canadian Giant in Big Move Toward Investment Banking," American Banker, March 31, 1994, pp. 1+.

Milner, Brian, "CIBC's Fullerton Stepping Down," Globe and Mail, December 7, 1991, p. B1.

Mittelstaedt, Martin, "CIBC's Sweeping Austerity Plan Includes Layoffs, Salary Restraint," Globe and Mail, June 17, 1982, p. B4.

------, "Harrison Resigns As CIBC Chairman," Globe and Mail, January 18, 1985, p. B1.

Noble, Kimberley, "Bitterness on Bay Street: Ottawa Hands the Banks a Resounding Defeat," Maclean's, December 28, 1998, pp. 70-73.

------, "How the Banks Blew It," Maclean's, December 7, 1998, pp. 26-30.

Partridge, John, "CIBC Aims for Big Payoff: Forms Canada's First Integrated Global Investment Bank in Radical Reshaping," Globe and Mail, March 31, 1994, p. B3.

------, "CIBC Chairman Sets Sights on First Place," Globe and Mail, January 15, 1996, p. B1.

------, "CIBC Finally Pulls the Plug on U.S. Electronic Banking Unit," Globe and Mail, November 15, 2002, p. B1.

Ross, Victor, and Arthur St. L. Trigge, A History of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, 3 vols., Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1920-1934.

Stewart, Sinclair, "CIBC Agrees to Settle over Enron Allegations," Globe and Mail, December 23, 2003, p. B1.

Stewart, Sinclair, and Andrew Willis, "CIBC Sells U.S. Retail Broker," Globe and Mail, December 11, 2002, p. B1.

Stoffman, Daniel, "Poor Little Rich Bank," Canadian Business, May 1, 1996, pp. 44+.

Wilson-Smith, Anthony, "The Challengers," Maclean's, April 27, 1998, pp. 40-44.

— Updates: Dave Mote, David E. Salamie

abbr. command module.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Banque Canadienne Impériale de Commerce

Type	Public
Traded as	TSX: CM NYSE: CM
Industry	Financial Services, Banking
Founded	1867
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Key people	Gerald T. McCaughey, CEO
Revenue	$12.1 billion CAD (2010)
Net income	$2.5 billion CAD (2010)
Total assets	$352.0 billion CAD (2010)
Employees	42,354 (Full-time equivalent, 2010)
Subsidiaries	CIBC World Markets CIBC Retail Markets CIBC Imperial Service CIBC Wood Gundy
Website	www.cibc.com

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (French: Banque Canadienne Impériale de Commerce, commonly CIBC in either official language) is one of Canada's chartered banks, fifth largest by deposits. The bank is headquartered at Commerce Court in Toronto, Ontario.^[1] CIBC's Institution Number (or bank number) is 010, and its SWIFT code is CIBCCATT.

The bank's two strategic business units, CIBC World Markets and CIBC Retail Markets, also have international operations in the United States, the Caribbean, Asia and the United Kingdom. Globally, CIBC serves more than eleven million clients, and has over 40,000 employees. The company ranks at number 168 on the Forbes Global 2000 listing.^[2] CIBC was named the strongest bank in Canada and North America, and the 3rd strongest bank in the world by Bloomberg in May 2012.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins 1.2 Forming Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce 1.3 Present 2 Notable corporate activities and international operations 2.1 North America 2.2 Caribbean and the West Indies 2.3 Restructuring and outsourcing 2.4 Miscellaneous 3 Corporate governance 4 Awards and recognition 4.1 2010 4.2 2009 5 Settlements and controversies 5.1 Enron 5.2 Market timing 5.3 Visa cardholders 5.4 Voluntary refund of erroneous charges 5.5 Privacy 5.5.1 2005 5.5.2 2007 5.6 Employee overtime 6 Significant buildings occupied 7 References 8 External links

History

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, as it is known today, came into being in 1961. The bank was formed through the merger of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and the Imperial Bank of Canada. At the time, they were two of Canada's largest banks.

Origins

Main articles: Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada

The Canadian Bank of Commerce opened for business on May 15, 1867 in Toronto and was founded by the Honourable William McMaster as competition for the Bank of Montreal. By 1874 it had 24 branches.

The Imperial Bank of Canada opened in Toronto on March 18, 1875, founded by former Commerce Vice-president Henry Stark Howland.

By the end of 1895, the Canadian Bank of Commerce had 58 branches and the Imperial Bank of Canada 18.

Following the 1896 discovery of gold in the Yukon, the Dominion Government asked the Canadian Bank of Commerce to open a branch Dawson City. With acquisitions in the 1920s, the Commerce became one of the strongest branch networks in Canada with well over 700 branches. Internationally the bank opened branches in Cuba, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad during the 1920s.

Wood, Gundy & Company, the precursor of CIBC's investment banking arm, opened its doors on February 1, 1905. During World War I, it took a prominent and active role in the organization of Victory Loans.

Commerce Building circa 1930 now known as Commerce Court North in Toronto.

The Canadian Bank of Commerce opened its new head office in Toronto in 1931. An observation gallery on the 32nd floor was a popular tourist attraction where, for the first time, visitors could get an aerial view of the city.

In 1936, the Commerce was the first Canadian bank to establish a personal loans department.

Following the war, both banks started to open new branches. Although the banks had been barred from the mortgage business since 1871, the Canadian government now called upon them to provide mortgage services. So, in 1954, Canadian banks started offering mortgages for new construction.

Forming Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

In 1960, Imperial Chairman Stuart Mackersy approached Neil McKinnon the President of the Commerce with a proposal to merge the two banks. This followed a decade of expansion in the Canadian economy and Canada's capitalization of the industrialization of its natural resources. A deal between the two banks was quickly reached.

The newly merged CIBC commissioned a new logo to commemorate its 100th year of operation. The "chevron" logo was in use until 1994^[3]

On June 1, 1961, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was formed through the merger of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and the Imperial Bank of Canada which had over 1,200 branches across Canada. The new bank had the most resources and the most branches of any bank in the country.

Commerce Court in Toronto.

Following the merger, the new bank commissioned a new head office. While planning to retain Commerce Court North, the bank hired architect I. M. Pei to design a three-building complex. The result was Commerce Court consisting of a landscaped courtyard complementing the existing building and included the newly built 786-foot Commerce Court West. When it was completed in 1973, the 57-storey building was the tallest building in Canada, and the largest stainless-steel-clad building in the world.

In 1967, both Canada and CIBC celebrated their centenaries. CIBC was the only chartered bank to have a branch on-site at Expo 67. It was also at this time that computerization began to change banking services. That same year the Yonge and Bloor branch in Toronto was the first Canadian bank branch to update customer bank books through computer. This also marked the introduction of inter-branch banking. Before the decade was out, CIBC had introduced the first 24-hour cash dispenser, which would eventually become the ATM.

Bank of Commerce branch, Yonge and Gould St. in Toronto, ca. 1979

Changes to federal and provincial regulations ending the separation of banks, investment dealers, trust companies and insurance companies came in 1987. CIBC quickly took advantage of this and became the first Canadian bank to operate an investment dealer, CIBC Securities, offering services to the public.

In 1988, CIBC acquired a majority interest in Wood Gundy Inc. who brought its reputation in underwriting and its name. Shortly thereafter Wood Gundy and CIBC Securities merged to become CIBC Wood Gundy which would later become CIBC Oppenheimer in 1997 and then CIBC World Markets.

In 1992, CIBC introduced automated telephone banking; in 1995 its launched its website, and shortly thereafter began offering banking services online. In 1998, CIBC joined with Loblaws to create President's Choice Financial which was launched in 28 Ottawa area stores.

Present

This section requires expansion.

A CIBC branch in Toronto.

There was an attempt by CIBC to merge with the Toronto-Dominion Bank in 1998. However, the Government of Canada at the lead of then Finance Minister Paul Martin blocked the merger from occurring as not in the best interest of Canadians^[4]

CIBC sold its corporate and purchasing credit card business to U.S. Bank Canada in October 2006. The buyer has previously acquired business charge cards from Royal Bank of Canada.

In 2006, the stock ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange was changed from BCM to CM to bring it in line with the ticker symbol on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

In December 2006, CIBC acquired majority control of its publicly held joint venture FirstCaribbean International Bank for just over US$1 billion (Bds$2 billion), from Barclays Bank 's acquiring its 43.7% stake.

On February 12, 2009 the Trinidad and Tobago Express newspaper reported that CIBC may enter into discussions to buy out CL Financial's stake in the Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.^[5] Due to CL Financial financial issues during the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009.^[6] As of May 2010, no further information was available.

In February, 2010 CIBC became the first chartered bank in Canada to launch a mobile banking iPhone App. It surpassed 100,000 downloads in just over one month following launch, with over 1 million client logins to CIBC Mobile Banking since its introduction.^[7][8]

In June 2010, CIBC said it has signed a deal to buy a $2.1-billion credit card portfolio from Citigroup’s Citibank Canada Master Card business^[9].

In October 2010, CIBC announced that it would be the first bank in Canada to introduce the internationally used Visa-branded debit card.^[10]

Notable corporate activities and international operations

This section requires expansion.

North America

• CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services: formed by CIBC and Mellon Bank Corp. (now Bank of New York Mellon) of Pittsburgh PA 1996 and Canada Trust's (now TD Canada Trust) pension and custody business in 1997

• Canadian Eastern Finance Limited (CEF): formed by CIBC and Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong; includes CEF Capital Limited, CEF Investment Management Limited

• President's Choice Financial: A joint venture between CIBC and Loblaw Companies Limited; PC Financial's banking services such as deposit accounts, investments and credit products (excluding Mastercard) are provided by a division of CIBC Retail Markets, formerly Amicus Bank. In 2005 Amicus was dissolved as a separate legal entity.

• Amicus FSB: A similar setup as President's Choice Financial, it was created in 1999 in the United States with Winn Dixie and Safeway Inc. under the Marketplace Bank and Safeway Select Bank brands. It was disbanded in 2002 and sold to E*Trade Bank.

• Soltrus Inc 2001: provider of digital trust services for businesses and consumers to communicate and transact over digital networks owned by CIBC, Telus Corp and VeriSign Inc.

• Aplettix Inc 2000: firm specializing in secure transaction systems in the banking sector; CIBC signed an agreement with the New York based firm in 2000, but the project was later abandoned for alternatives such as VeriSign

• Canadian Defence Community Banking - CIBC and the Department of National Defence have worked together to develop Canadian Defence Community Banking, a banking program created specifically to meet the unique needs of the Canadian military community. Services are provided by CIBC Retail Markets in the same way as the CIBC PC Financial products.

Caribbean and the West Indies

CIBC FirstCaribbean's regional head office, Warrens, St. Michael, Barbados.

In 1920, Canadian Bank of Commerce established its first branches in the West Indies in Bridgetown, Barbados and in Kingston, Jamaica. That same year it also opened branches in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Havana, Cuba. The bank had already opened a branch in Mexico City in 1910. In 1957, the bank opened a branch in Nassau, the Bahamas, and in the subsequent years expanded its operations in Jamaica.

Between 1963 and 1988, the bank expanded its branch network in Barbados opened branches in St. Vincent, Antigua, and St Lucia. In 1988, CIBC sold 45% of its shares in CIBC Jamaica via a public share issue. Between 1993 and 1996, CIBC restructured its holdings in the Caribbean, with the incorporation of CIBC West Indies Holdings Limited and CIBC Caribbean Limited. CIBC West Indies Holdings then sold 30% of its shares to the public. In 1997, CIBC issued 5 million shares in CIBC Bahamas Limited to the public. On October 31, 2001 Barclays Bank PLC and CIBC agreed to combine their Caribbean operations to establish FirstCaribbean International Bank.

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (2011), in Bridgetown, St. Michael, Barbados.

In 2006, CIBC bought out Barclays Bank's stake to give it about 92% of FirstCaribbean International Bank.^[11] In 2010, CIBC acquired a 22.5% equity of Butterfield Bank of Bermuda.^[12]

Restructuring and outsourcing

• HP Intria Items (Intria Corp): Formed by CIBC with Hewlett Packard and Fiserv Canada in 1996. In 2005, CIBC acquired the remaining shares from Fiserv and Intria becomes a unit of CIBC

• EDULINX Canada Corporation: Established in 1999, it was sold to Nelnet Canada Inc, the Canadian unit of Nelnet, Inc. of the U.S., in late 2004

• Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club: Founding owners of the MLB team in 1977 and had a 10% stake with majority owner Labatt's Breweries (later acquired by InterBrew NV) and sold to Rogers Media in 2000

• CIBC Leadership Centre: In 2001, the King City facility was sold to Benchmark Hospitality as the bank began to divest real estate or investment in areas outside of its business strategies

• TSYS: In 2002, a 10 year agreement was signed with Total Systems Services Inc of Columbus, Georgia to outsource credit card processing operations

• Juniper Financial Corporation: The bank acquired the Wilmington, Delaware credit card issuer 2001 and sold to Barclays Bank in 2004

Miscellaneous

Li Ka Shing, Hong Kong billionaire was the largest foreign shareholder in the bank for over two decades, but in early 2005 he sold his portion (est. C$1.2 billion) to establish a Canadian charity, the Li Ka Shing Foundation. CIBC was Mr. Li's choice for financing many of his Canadian ventures, like Husky Energy. Mr. Li had reportedly backed personal and commercial banking head Holger Kluge to succeed Al Flood as CEO of CIBC in 1999.

Corporate governance

CIBC is well known for its publicized battles of succession to the top position of President and CEO (formerly styled Chairman and CEO until 2003 when the positions were separated). When Al Flood became CEO, one of his first acts was to fire his chief rival Paul Cantor. 1999 saw a competition between Wood Gundy (now CIBC World Markets) chief John S. Hunkin and Personal/Commercial banking head Holger Kluge, with Kluge retiring the firm after Hunkin was selected. In February 2004, Hunkin forced his friend and heir-apparent David Kassie to resign as Chairman and CEO of World Markets after several scandals in the US (both men had given up their bonuses in 2002 after that year produced the worst results in the history of CIBC). Kassie afterwards founded Genuity Capital and was alleged to have raided 20 key employees from World Markets for his new startup, causing CIBC to file a lawsuit.^[13][14] Gerald T. McCaughey was named as Kassie's replacement for World Markets. Not long after he was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer, assuring his succession to CEO, Jill Denham, Vice Chair of Retail Markets and a potential candidate for the CEO post, was reportedly dismissed by McCaughey. Denham was reported close to Hunkin and Kassie and McCaughey wanted to build his own senior executive team.^[15]

Current senior executive team:

• Gerald T. McCaughey - President and CEO
• Mike Capatides - Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, Administration Division
• Victor Dodig - Senior Executive Vice-President, and Group Head, Wealth Management
• Kevin Glass - Senior Executive-Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer
• Richard Nesbitt - Senior Executive Vice-President, and Group Head, Wholesale, International, and Technology and Operations
• Hon. Jim Prentice P.C., Q.C. - Senior Executive Vice-President and Vice Chairman
• Richard E. Venn - Senior Executive Vice-President, and Managing Director and Deputy Chair, CIBC World Markets Inc.
• David Williamson - Senior Executive Vice-President, and Group Head, Retail and Business Banking
• Tom Woods - Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer, Risk Management

Current members of the Board of Directors:

• Brent S. Belzberg (2005); Senior Managing Partner, Torquest Partners Inc.
• Jalynn H. Bennett (1994) C.M.; President, Jalynn H. Bennett and Associates Ltd.
• Gary F. Colter (2003) F.C.A.; President, CRS Inc.
• Dominic D'Alessandro (2010); Past President and Chief Executive Officer, Manulife Financial Corporation
• Patrick D. Daniel(2009) B.S., M.S. Chem. E; President and Chief Executive Officer, Enbridge Inc.
• Luc Desjardins (2009); Equity Partner, The Sterling Group, LP
• Gordon D. Giffin (2001); Senior Partner, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
• Linda S. Hasenfratz (2004); Chief Executive Officer, Linamar Corporation
• Nicholas D. Le Pan (2008); Consultant, 6610587 Canada Inc.
• John P. Manley, P.C. (2005); President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Council of Chief Executives
• Gerald T. McCaughey (2005); President and Chief Executive Officer, CIBC
• Jane L. Peverett (2009); Corporate Director
• Leslie Rahl (2007) B.Sc., M.B.A.; Founder and Managing Partner, Capital Market Risk Advisors, Inc.
• Charles Sirois (1997) C.M., B.Fin., M.Fin.; Chair of the Board, CIBC
• Robert J. Steacy (2008); Corporate Director
• Katherine B. Stevenson (2011); Corporate Director
• Ronald W. Tysoe (2004); Corporate Director

Awards and recognition

2010

• CIBC was named Canada’s Best Consumer Internet Bank for the third year in a row by Global Finance magazine in its 11th annual “World’s Best Internet Banks” competition.^[16]

• CIBC was selected by Corporate Knights as one of the Best 50 Corporate Citizens for 2010, marking the sixth time the bank has made the list since the annual ranking began in 2002.^[16]

• CIBC was named one of Canada's 50 Most Socially Responsible Corporations in a recent report released this week by Jantzi Research and Maclean's. The annual Jantzi-Maclean's Corporate Social Responsibility Report recognizes the top 50 corporations who perform best across a broad range of environmental, social, and governance indicators as tracked by Jantzi Research.^[16]

• CIBC was recognized by the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada (SMCC) with the Award of Distinction in the Sustained Success category for its sponsorship of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. The award recognizes the highest level of accountability, effectiveness and return on investment over a period of three years or longer. CIBC also won this award in 2006 and 2007 for the Run for the Cure.^[16]

• CIBC has for the third consecutive year been recognized as one of Canada's Best Employers for New Canadians. The award recognizes employers across Canada who are leaders in creating a workplace that welcomes new Canadians and allows them to make the most of their skills, education and talents. The winners were selected by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers.^[16]

2009

• CIBC was a winner in one category and runner up in a second at the 2009 Global Six Sigma & Business Improvement Awards. CIBC won the award for "Best Project Achievement in Business Enabling Processes" for enhancements to debit card fraud processes.^[16]

• The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Greater Toronto Chapter presented CIBC with the 2009 Outstanding Corporation Philanthropy Award. Nominated for the award by three outstanding charities with which CIBC has had long-standing relationships - Skills for Change, St. Michael's Hospital and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - CIBC was recognized for the scope of its community investment programs. We^[who?] were also recognized for our exceptional commitment to providing ongoing support to more than 2,500 organizations that focus on youth, education and health.^[16]

• For the second consecutive year, CIBC was recognized with a Silver Canadian Award for Training Excellence in Internal eLearning from the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD).^[16]

• CIBC was honoured at the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD) President’s Dinner with a Canadian WOW Award for training excellence in recognition of the success of its CIBC Connection to Employment initiative. A free, unpaid five-week job readiness training program led jointly by CIBC and the YMCA, CIBC Connection to Employment prepares qualified newcomers for careers in the Canadian financial services industry.^[16]

• CIBC.com is now the first Canadian bank website to receive CNIB Site Check certification for providing barrier-free web access to people who are blind or have vision loss. The CNIB Site Check program evaluates the accessibility of websites based upon a range of criteria and gives a passing grade to sites that provide barrier-free web design.^[16]

• CIBC was selected for the third year in a row as a 2009 Climate Disclosure Leader by the Conference Board of Canada and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). CIBC was one of only five low-carbon impact sector companies in the 15 company leadership group out of the 200 most valuable companies by market capitalization listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.^[16]

• CIBC was selected as a component of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), an influential benchmark for socially responsible asset managers. CIBC is one of 25 financial institutions from around the world and one of only 11 Canadian financial institutions selected.^[16]

• CIBC was awarded the 2009 Outstanding Corporation Philanthropy Award by the Greater Toronto Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). The annual AFP Philanthropy Awards are a celebration of the outstanding contribution of time, leadership and financial support made by organizations and individuals who have shown excellence in encouraging the spirit of giving.^[16]

• CIBC was voted the "Best Consumer Internet Bank" in Canada with the "Best Online Consumer Credit Site" in North America for the second year in a row, according to Global Finance magazine in its 10th annual "World's Best Internet Banks" competition.^[16]

• CIBC was selected as a member of the Best 50 Corporate Citizens list for 2009 by Corporate Knights. The list was established in 2002 and this year marks CIBC's fifth time on the list since its inception.^[16]

• CIBC's Campus Recruitment Team was recognized by the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management as the 2009 Rotman Student Choice Award Winner in the financial services category. CIBC was also named as the 2008 top employer for summer recruitment in the same category.^[16]

• CIBC was honoured with four 2009 mutual fund Lipper Awards and seven Lipper Certificates. CIBC took home the most individual trophy awards and tied for first place in the total number of awards and certificates combined.^[16]

• CIBC received the 2009 Edmonton Mayor's Celebration of the Arts Award for Innovative Support for the "CIBC Theatre for All" program. This annual event showcases Edmonton's arts community and celebrates vital partnerships between business and the arts.^[16]

• The 2008 debut of CIBC's covered bond program was named "Securitization Deal of the Year" by International Financial Law Review, an affiliate of Euromoney. The award recognizes CIBC's program as the most innovative and creative of all securitization deals done across the Americas in 2008, beating out nominated deals involving AIG and Banco Internacional del Peru (Interbank).^[16]

• CIBC was named one of this country's "Best Employers for New Canadians" for creating an inclusive workplace that allows newcomers to make the most of their skills and education in their new home. The editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers and representatives from the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) made the announcement.^[16]

Settlements and controversies

This section requires expansion.

Enron

On December 22, 2003, the United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined CIBC US$80 million for its role in the manipulation of Enron financial statements. This consists of $37.5 million to repay ill-gotten gains, a $37.5 million penalty and $5 million in interest. The money is intended to be returned to Enron fraud victims pursuant to the Fair Fund provisions of Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.^[17]

The SEC also sued three of CIBC's executives. CIBC Executive Vice President Daniel Ferguson and former CIBC Executive Director Mark Wolf agreed to settle for US$563,000 and US$60,000, respectively. Ian Schottlaender, former managing director in CIBC's corporate leveraged finance group in New York initially contested the charges^[18] but on July 12, 2004 he agreed to pay US$ 528,750 as well as be barred from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company for a period of five years.^[19] Under these agreements the individuals neither admit nor deny wrongdoing.

The SEC complaint charges that "CIBC and the three executives with having helped Enron to mislead its investors through a series of complex structured finance transactions over a period of several years preceding Enron's bankruptcy." The agreement reached between the SEC and CIBC permanently enjoins CIBC from violating the antifraud, books and records, and internal control provisions of the federal securities laws.^[17][18]

On August 2, 2005 CIBC paid US$2.4 billion to settle a class action lawsuit brought by a group of pension funds and investment managers, including the University of California, which claims that "systematic fraud by Enron and its officers led to the loss of billions and the collapse of the company."^[20]

Market timing

On July 25, 2005 CIBC confirmed it would pay US$125 million to settle an investigation into its role in the 2003 Mutual-fund scandal. Linda Chatman Thomsen, director of the SEC's division of enforcement, said, "by knowingly financing customers' late trading and market timing, as well as providing financing in amounts far greater than the law allows, CIHI and World Markets boosted their customers' trading profits at the expense of long-term mutual fund shareholders."^[21] Under the settlement, CIBC neither admits nor denies the allegations.

Visa cardholders

On August 27, 2004 CIBC confirmed that it would settle a class-action lawsuit on behalf of CIBC Visa cardholders. The plaintiffs, represented by Paul Pape and Harvey Strosberg of the Toronto law firm Pape Barristers, alleged that the conversion of foreign-currency transactions resulted in an undisclosed or inadequately disclosed mark-up.^[22] After having been approved by an Ontario Superior Court judge, CIBC announced on October 15, 2004 that the settlement will result in the bank paying $13.85 million to its cardholders, $1 million to the United Way, $1.65 million to the Class Action Fund of the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario), and $3 million in legal fees.^[23] The bank also announced that it has not admitted any liability and is settling to avoid further litigation with its cardholders.

Voluntary refund of erroneous charges

On May 20, 2004 CIBC announced that it would refund $24 million to some of its customers as a result of erroneous overdraft and mortgage charges which were discovered in the course of an internal review. "This is being done as part of CIBC's effort to correct its error and to ensure that it distributes to customers all of the money it received in error," the bank said.^[24]

In another similar incident, CIBC announced on April 27, 2006 that it's refunding an additional $27 million to about 200,000 clients who were overcharged for certain overdraft fees and other borrowing transactions, some of which date back to 1993.^[25] In cases where clients were undercharged, the bank decided not to seek reimbursement.^[26]

Privacy

2005

On April 18, 2005 the Privacy Commissioner of Canada expressed disappointment in the way CIBC dealt with incidents involving the bank misdirecting faxes containing customers' personal information.^[27] One involved misdirecting faxes to a scrap yard operator in West Virginia from 2001 to 2004. The misdirected faxes contained the social security numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and detailed bank account data of several hundred bank customers.^[28]

The second incident involved a Dorval businessman and allegedly took place from 2000 to 2004.^[29] In both cases, the commissioner noted that the bank did not inform the affected clients, whose personal information was compromised, until the incidents became public and an investigation was underway.^[30]

A few days after the story broke on CTV News and The Globe and Mail, CIBC announced that it had banned its employees from using fax machines to transmit any documents containing confidential customer information.^[31]

2007

On January 18, 2007 CIBC Asset Management announced that the personal information of about 470,000 current and former clients of Talvest Mutual Funds, a CIBC subsidiary, had gone missing. The information may have included client names, addresses, signatures, dates of birth, bank account numbers, beneficiary information and/or Social Insurance Numbers.^[32] The incident emanated from the disappearance of a hard drive containing information on "the process used to open and administer" customer accounts as it was traveling between the bank's Montreal and Toronto offices.^[33] The Privacy Commissioner of Canada stated, "Although I appreciate that the bank notified us of this incident and that it is working cooperatively with my Office, I am nevertheless deeply troubled, especially given the magnitude of this breach, which puts at risk the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Canadians." She immediately launched a privacy investigation.^[34]

Employee overtime

In June 2007, CIBC was named in a $600 million class-action lawsuit regarding the lack of overtime pay to its customer service staff. The case was recently dismissed by Madam Justice Joan Lax of the Ontario Superior Court where she stated the evidence "provides no basis in fact that there is a systemic practice of unpaid overtime at CIBC." ^[35][36] The lawsuit was originally launched by Dara Fresco, a head teller at the bank, who was being represented by the law firms Roy Elliot Kim O'Connor LLP and Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP.^[37]

Significant buildings occupied

La Tour CIBC from the east in Downtown Montreal.

• Commerce Court
• Tour CIBC
• 2 Bloor Street West
• CIBC 750 Lawrence
• Bankers Hall East
• Bell Trinity Square
• Brookfield Place

References

1. ^ Deborah C. Sawyer. "Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce". Thecanadianencyclopedia.com. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001297. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
2. ^ "Forbes Global 2000 List, 2011 edition". Forbes.com. 2011-04-20. http://www.forbes.com/global2000/list/#p_2_s_arank_All_All_All. Retrieved 2011-10-22. 
3. ^ CIBC Logos and Seals (company website)
4. ^ Pound, Richard W. (2005). 'Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates'. Fitzhenry and Whiteside. 
5. ^ EYES ON REPUBLIC^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Trinidad government to own regional newspapers and radio stations after bailout
7. ^ "CIBC continues market leadership by introducing further innovations to Mobile Banking for BlackBerry devices and other Internet-enabled smartphones". Newswire.ca. 2011-02-25. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2010/12/c9533.html. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
8. ^ "CIBC iPhone app sees over 100,000 downloads in first month… expanded to other smartphones". Mobilesyrup.com. 2010-04-13. http://mobilesyrup.com/2010/04/13/cibc-iphone-app-sees-over-100000-downloads-in-first-month-expanded-to-other-smartphones/. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
9. ^ CIBC buys card portfolio from Citigroup MasterCard business
10. ^ Trichur, Rita; Flavelle, Dana (2010-10-18). "CIBC rolls out Canada’s first Visa-branded debit card". Toronto: thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/article/877157--cibc-rolls-out-canada-s-first-visa-branded-debit-card. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
11. ^ Broad Street News^{[dead link]}
12. ^ "This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". Toronto: Theglobeandmail.com. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/cibc-takes-minority-stake-in-bermuda-bank/article1487131/. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
13. ^ Globe & Mail^{[dead link]}
14. ^ "canadian headhunter". Canadianheadhunter.blogspot.com. http://canadianheadhunter.blogspot.com/2005/01/meet-genuity-six-kingpin-kassie.html. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
15. ^ "canadian headhunter". Canadianheadhunter.blogspot.com. 2005-12-04. http://canadianheadhunter.blogspot.com/2005/04/unemployed-woman-cibc-3-takes-kassie.html. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
16. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} [1] (company website)
17. ^ ^{a b} "SEC Announces Agreement with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Two Executives to Settle Charges of Aiding and Abetting Enron Accounting Fraud". Sec.gov. 2003-12-22. http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-180.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
18. ^ ^{a b} "CNN". CNN. December 21, 2003. http://www.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/12/22/cibc.enron.reut/. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
19. ^ "Ian Schottlaender: Lit. Rel. No. 18782 / July 13, 2004". Sec.gov. http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr18782.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
20. ^ CBC News, August 2, 2005
21. ^ CBC News, July 20, 2005
22. ^ CTV News, August 27, 2004
23. ^ CBC News, October 15, 2004
24. ^ CBC News, May 20, 2004
25. ^ NewsWire
26. ^ CBC News, April 27, 2006
27. ^ CBC News, April 18, 2005
28. ^ CTV News, November 25, 2004
29. ^ CTV News, December 8, 2004
30. ^ "Privacy Commissioner of Canada". Privcom.gc.ca. http://www.privcom.gc.ca/incidents/2005/050418_02_e.asp. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
31. ^ CTV News, November 27, 2004
32. ^ CBC News, January 18, 2007
33. ^ Pasternak, Sean B. (2007-01-18). "Bloomberg". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=ahbSghGBy1pU. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
34. ^ "Privacy Commissioner of Canada". Privcom.gc.ca. http://www.privcom.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2007/nr-c_070118_e.asp. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
35. ^ The Globe and Mail, July 19. 2009
36. ^ Cohen, Tobi (2007-06-05). "Toronto Star". Thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/221663. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
37. ^ CBC News, June 5, 2007

Biography

• Victor Ross A History of the Canadian Bank of Commerce (1920–1934)
• Rupert Canadian Investment Bank Review McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Limited 1992

External links

Companies portal

• CIBC Official Website

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